Incognito
by compulsive-equanimity
Summary: When secrets are unearthed and masks shed, the two apprentices have a choice to make-- to right their wrongs, or continue their false securities. Warring emotions and broken alliances blur their vision. What will they choose? Standard Disclaimer Applies


Disclaimer: I do not own any aspect of the Naruto series. Naruto belongs to Mamashi Kishimoto. I am the sole owner of this plot and story.

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Incognito

Chapter One

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The smoke bomb exploded in my face, shocking me. My eyes and throat and nose are burning. I realized quickly that this was tear gas, no ordinary smoke bomb. The fumes began to billow around me, and I covered my face. I choked, coughing roughly. My eyes watered, and tears began to run down my cheeks, rendering my sight almost useless. I screamed, my anger bubbling up from my swollen throat in a curse.

"Damn you!"

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The pillow was rough cotton, and it itched my sweaty skin. My hair was matted against it, making my neck and shoulders throb in a painful, steady rhythm. This room was darker than pitch, and silent. It was large. The air was tepid, but my sheets were hot where an infection coursed. My breathing was fitful and labored; my lungs had been punctured in my attempts to stay away from my pursuers. I strained against the weight of my blankets. I needed cooler air.

Energy stirred in the back corner of the room. I tensed for a moment, and then recognized it. I exhaled.

"Sasuke-kun?"

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I coughed and gagged, spewing out curses as well as tears. How could I be so ignorant? And compared to these fools? I hurried to for cover above the poisonous mist. I jumped high into the thick tree-brush, surveying the situation and trying to regain my composure. I looked for the one that threw that bomb straight in my face. If he only knew what I would do to him. I scanned the area, still squinting from gas.

A sudden flash told me where they were. Another bomb. I couldn't react fast enough. I dodged a kunai, just centimeters from my cheek, and as I jerked back, I launched myself down.

They followed my decent, throwing shiruken at every possible angel. I blocked and twisted, and caught a branch with my hands. I swung forward, landing on my feet and using chakra to speed through the trees. Each step I dodged and swerved, running in diagonal patterns to evade they're blades and stars. Soon they would run out. I gave a final surge of chakra to the soles of my feet, and sped away, grinning in abandon.

I decided finally to jerk to the left, catching them off guard. I planted my foot and then twisted, and then sprung back to them. I flung my own kunai and shiruken, all laced with a poison of my own. The shinobi continued forward, swerving and evading my weapons. I was still running, and I pulled my ninjato from my back. Their eyes widened. They disbanded from their formation in a quick burst. One remained forward, and he began forming his hand seals swiftly. I shot forward, slicing at his hands, and he darted away. His friends surrounded us, barraging me with punishing blows while I blocked Forward's hands.

This was becoming tedious. I shot myself up, farther into the canopy of trees, and darted back and forth between the branches to confuse them. I shaped my hands into seals, and quickly created clones. They spread among the trees, each of them in a different direction. I huffed and placed chakra at my feet for speed again. I didn't feel the need to continue this. I turned my head back for a moment. No followers. I returned my gaze to the horizon, and something black flashed in my vision. I faltered for a moment, letting myself slow down slightly. I gave another burst of speed, but then I hit another something. Something _hard_. It jarred me. I backed up, and then lowered myself into a defensive pose. The forest was now very dark, and a mist was beginning to form around my feet. Genjutsu. I formed my hands into the appropriate seal, squeezed my eyes shut, and then muttered a release. The genjutsu lifted for just a moment, but before I could move again, a kunai implanted myself into my spine. The world went dark again.

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He strolled over to me slowly, looking at my pallid face. He stared, smug, giving me an indignant edge to my mood. Sasuke carried a glass of water in his hand. I hoped it was cold. He glared at me, mouth set in a firm line.

I knew what he was thinking. Something along the lines of "Useless." But he didn't know what had truly happened. I taught those fools not to mess with what they shouldn't. They paid their lives. It took me far longer than it should have, but I did it. My hands had slaughtered them. Sasuke was assuming that the blood caking my body was mine. But he was very, very wrong.

"I found you--in a ravine," he said, "not exactly where I'd expect to see you."

"No." I mumbled, grimacing. My chest stung from remnants of tear gas. I coughed, sending shooting pain from the base of my body.

"Do you need a mednin?"

"I can't heal all this myself," I spat. Infections weren't something covered widely. I was angry. This shouldn't have happened. Sasuke shouldn't be hovering over my bed, practically leering at me like my wounds were a humorous joke.

"I'll bring you the first I see."

"Hide yourself. _Better_ than last time." Sasuke peered down at me once more, with all the irritation of a true teenage boy. He turned towards the door.

"Hai, Orochimaru-sama."

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This had begun as a simple diplomacy issue with Sunagakure.

She sped through the city, wary of every movement around her. She eyed the pedestrians below her, observed every exchange of word or object. She was paranoid. The chunin hadn't returned alive. Their bodies were found and returned to Konohagakure on stretchers. They were beyond mangled--faces ruined beyond recognition, their headbands desecrated. Bile rose in her throat when she saw how malicious this assassin had been. Anger had only kept it down.

Sakura raced to the familiar Hokage tower, skimming off the tops of buildings and electricity poles. The silhouette stood out beyond the half-light of dusk. She had only begun her midnight shift at the hospital when the bodies came in. There was more gore than body on those stretchers. Fury shook in her hands. She fisted her fingers and felt her knuckles go white. Then they stopped shaking.

Someone had alerted Tsunade before they arrived. They were brought here to be identified, then given to the families for final requests. The next of kin would have to cremate. There was no possible means of having a wake. The reconnaissance team told Sakura that Tsunade had summoned her. She stormed out the door, already feeding chakra to her feet.

The balcony jutted from the tower. It was wide and rounded, and made of the yellow stucco that the city was renowned for. Sakura landed on the tall ledge and hopped down, landing on bent knees. She stood. Tsunade waved her in through the open floor-length window.

Her office was a chaotic disaster. Logbooks and scrolls lay in cardboard record boxes, and bookshelves lay bare and dusty. The floor was littered with crumpled paper and an occasional paperback romance novel. Tsunade usually accompanied those with a large bottle of sake. It was a rather large room, rectangle in shape, with a wall of glass leading to the balcony at the far end. In front of the windows was her desk, made of dark mahogany wood and piled chest-high with paperwork. The walls were covered in portraits of the previous Hokages, all busy in their pristine working environments. Sakura occasionally thought that when Tsunade's picture would be on that wall, it would take a strong heart to look at this disgraced room. Nonetheless, it fit Tsunade perfectly. Muddled. Hectic. Perfect.

Tsunade sat at her desk in a heap, looking harassed. Sakura stood, anxious, in front of the desk, earnest for answers. Tsunade looked back at her, and then shook her head.

"Their last reported location was in the northeast corner, bordering Sound..." she trailed off, knowing Sakura would recognize the meaning. Tsunade looked bitterly down at an empty sake bottle. Her eyes didn't linger there long. They flashed back up to Sakura.

"I need you to go there--alone, Sakura." Her tone was harsh. Resentful. "I feel that you can do this, Sakura-chan. Use your stealth as best as you can."

Sakura's eyes widened. She was sending her on _this_ mission? Alone, and near the border of the Sound Village? Was Tsunade mad? She already suspected Orochimaru, and yet she was still expected her to do this, _by herself_? This couldn't be possible. Sas--... _He_ had barely survived Orochimaru's attack when they were genin. How did Tsunade expect her to complete this mission alone and relatively unharmed?

"Orochimaru left his tell-tale signs. Follow them. Find him." Tsunade flipped a page in a logbook. She was recording the mission data. She came to the section for rank. Sakura saw her scribble a very large, misshapen _A_. She looked back to Sakura. "The chunin were spent of all their weapons. They had little residual chakra. I think we can assume that Orochimaru isn't unharmed."

Sakura's mouth was a firm line. Her shoulders were tense with anxiety, raised up and taut. "How do you want me to go about this?"

Tsunade looked up at her, her own mouth set in a rigid grimace. "Undercover, Sakura-chan. Change anything about you that you can: colored contacts, hair color, clothing, posture, mannerisms. You can_ not _be found out."

Sakura stared blankly at the woman. This mission was beyond her in skill. Yes, she had gained numerous abilities in the past few years, but was it enough? Tsunade was sending her for a reason. It was the only thing she could be certain of: Tsunade wasn't apprehensive when she sent her on the usual missions.

The Hokage fretted with her pen for a minute, then gave a concerned gaze to Sakura. "You are dismissed, Sakura-chan."

"Hai, Hokage-sama."

Sakura walked passed the desk, towards the glass wall behind her. Tsunade caught her arm and gave her a long look. "Sakura? Be safe."

"Yes, sishou."

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_A/N:_

_Do you like it so far? Yes, I know it was a bit monotonous. It will get better, I promise. _

_Please give me meaningful reviews! If any of you are willing to be a Beta, please tell me._

_I will update as soon as I can. I am moving in two weeks, so don't be impatient! _

_'Till next time!_

_-CE_


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